Portale di Ateneo - En.Unibs.it

Course aims
Human motivation and the processes of choice are important in understanding a number of economic situations, including the emerging of the recent economic crisis. On the other hand, institutions represent a fundamental factor in shaping human behavior, especially in collective action situations. Those elements represents the core of the course, while its last part will cover the recent crisis of markets.

Syllabus
PART I: ( 1 ) Reasons, desires and opportunities; (2) Rationality and beliefs; (3) Rational choice and social behaviour ; (4) Natural selection and social selection; (5 ) Unintended consequences; (6 ) Strategic interaction; (7 ) Trust; (8 ) The collective beliefs; (9 ) Norms and institutions.
PART II: (1) Institutions and markets; (2 ) The crisis of 1929 and the Keynesian political and economic model; (3) The neo-liberal model and the globalization of markets; (4) The reasons for the current crisis in the relationship between institutions and markets.

Midterm and final exams
The examination will focus on the bibliography indicated in the program of course. A midterm (only for the attending students with at least 2/3 of lessons) and a final written test are provided. Both tests will take the form of a time-constrained scheme composed of six questions, each of which is marked with a value between 0 and 5. The final grade will be calculated as the average of the two tests.

Bibliography
I PARTE
Elster J.,La spiegazione del comportamento sociale,Il Mulino, Bologna 2007 (capp. V, VI, VII, IX, XI, XII, XIII, XVII,  XVIII, XIX, XXI, XXII, XXIV, XXVI)
II PARTE
Hirsch F., I limiti sociali dello sviluppo, Bompiani, 2001 (capp. 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11)